Glasses (spectacles) with binoculars (1 Viewer)

[Ted Y.]

When a person has reading glasses and driving glasses, which ones are to be used with binoculars?
Why?

 

[jring]

Hi,

depends on the prescription... if it has no cylinder or prism components but just spherical, you usually don't need glasses with binoculars.
If you want them in order to see better with the bins down, use the driving pair...

Joachim

 

[MiddleRiver]

I find that I prefer to wear my distance (driving?) glasses even tho in ideal world I'd get a better 'seal' (less light intrusion etc.) w/out specs. But I'm nearsighted which means that w/out glasses, I'd miss a lot while scanning the sky/woods. Donning and removing glasses too fussy. So I just wear glasses and live with it. I will say that I have a pair of glass glasses (as opposed to plastic lenses) so that I don't risk damaging the lenses on spec with binos. All my plastic lenses eventually get scratches or micro scratches...

 

[Helenelizabeth2]

When a person has reading glasses and driving glasses, which ones are to be used with binoculars?
Why?

Gutted that no-one has answered this for you as I've been struggling with the same question and found this thread by search. I'm currently only using glasses for reading but am also getting slightly short-sighted and I'm struggling with both near and far focus with my bins (whether or not I wear my reading glasses) but can't get my head round this. Where are your eyes actually focusing if you are looking through binoculars? Surely there's a science nerd on here somewhere who can talk us through this?

 

[MiddleRiver]

It's logical to wear distance glasses and presumably then the binos do not need diopter correction (assuming distance means correction for 20/20 both eyes), or very little tweaking.
But what's nice about bifocals or varifocals is that I can then also read a guidebook, or see adjustments on camera, or use phone. No different than any other outdoor activity. If I wore 'reading' glasses while birding, I'd trip over my feet when attempting to walk etc. And at least for me, the option of removing glasses to view etc. is too complicated - tangle with spectacle retainer, time lost doing it, etc.

 

[Helenelizabeth2]

It's logical to wear distance glasses and presumably then the binos do not need diopter correction (assuming distance means correction for 20/20 both eyes), or very little tweaking.
But what's nice about bifocals or varifocals is that I can then also read a guidebook, or see adjustments on camera, or use phone. No different than any other outdoor activity. If I wore 'reading' glasses while birding, I'd trip over my feet when attempting to walk etc. And at least for me, the option of removing glasses to view etc. is too complicated - tangle with spectacle retainer, time lost doing it, etc.

So, if you're using bifocals/varifocals are you always looking through the distance part of the lens when looking through bins or are you varying your view with the distance as you would without bins?

 

[MiddleRiver]

So, if you're using bifocals/varifocals are you always looking through the distance part of the lens when looking through bins or are you varying your view with the distance as you would without bins?

I have pondered this question and at first worried about it (I used to use binos w/out glasses but when I got to the point where I needed them to read, started wearing them). Even tho the 'sweet spot' is mid-lens, I have not found that I have to worry much about it - it's just naturally where my eye is. I.e. when binos are brought up to eyes, the eye is then kept centered on eyepiece - otherwise you'd get blackouts etc.
I have a pair of varifocals made in glass, which I mostly use for binos, tho I have not really noted them to damage my plastic lenses. I've considered having glass bifocals, just because I'm OCD and worry that I'll not be looking through the center of lenses (distance corrected area). The shape of the varifocals varies according to mfg and when I had mine made, I also requested the push the 'reading' portion down an extra mm or two. The reasoning being that I don't mind tilting head and looking down when reading and prefer to not see that area when looking ahead, walking, etc.

varifocal eyeglasses options - Google Search

Read a bit and discuss your needs with optician/optometrist.

 

[Boogieshrew]

I wear single vision specs for shortsightedness when I use my binoculars.
I find my varifocals to introduce distracting distortion in the edges of the view.

 

[tbcash80]

Can anyone suggest the best shape of glasses they’ve found for using with bins? Big lenses/small, round/not, plastic/metal frames?
Thank you.

 

[Binastro]

It depends on the eye relief of the binocular, the prescription for the observer and individual facial features.

Perhaps a trip to an optician who stocks many frames with the intended binocular will help with narrowing down the search.

Regards,
B.

 

[Conndomat]

Can anyone suggest the best shape of glasses they’ve found for using with bins? Big lenses/small, round/not, plastic/metal frames?
Thank you.

In the best case, the eyeglasses are as narrow as possible, i.e. no thick edges, you should be able to slide your glasses towards the bridge of your nose as far as possible so that your eyes aren't far away.

The problem is you can't make a general statement because our faces are all different, the eyes are sometimes more, sometimes less deep, the noses are thicker or narrower, etc.
It also depends on your vision, whether you are short or long-sighted, many factors play a role.
You really have to try it yourself.

Andreas

 

[MiddleRiver]

I own both 'wire-rim' and plastic rimmed glasses. The wire rims are by far the best with binos. They sit closer to my eyes.

I've also had a pair made with glass lenses to prevent scratching and even tho I normally wear varifocal lenses, they are only 'distance'. I found that with the small varifocal lenses, placement of binos was more critical since the 'intermediate' portion creeps up into sweet spot (center).

 

[bsantini]

One should consider a bifocal (segmented) option to retain near vision utility while eliminating the progressive corridor possibility of intrusion into your viewing field and focus.

 

[MiddleRiver]

One should consider a bifocal (segmented) option to retain near vision utility while eliminating the progressive corridor possibility of intrusion into your viewing field and focus.

Agree. And your optician can set the bifocal line a bit lower than normal. Not as comfortable for reading, but less 'fuzzy area' in bino view (particularly when using some of the newer 'alpha' glass with huge eye-box.

 

[Hermann]

Eyeglasses - a few unqualified remarks

We haven't seen much of our resident optician Looksharp65 recently, so here are a few observations open to correction. Use with binoculars:- If one cannot see clearly at moderate distances with the naked eyes, due either to near-sightedness, advanced presbyopia or astigmatism, then one is going...

www.birdforum.net

Hermann

 

[Ted Y.]

When a person has reading glasses and driving glasses, which ones are to be used with binoculars?
Why?

My answer is: the one physically better adapted to the binocular

 

[MiddleRiver]

Driving unless you have binos up to your eyes ALL the time. I have to be able to scan for birds/nature w/out binos, so visual acuity for distance is essential.